After much reading of the forums to find answers, I registered today in hope of getting advice on a problem no single solution really covers.
I considered posting in a security area so people would not look at me as if I had 3 heads and a tail , but I'll take my chances in General.
I've spent some time studying security, on Windows machines, and it was of course inevitable that I'd move to Linux for my own personal and professional needs. I just began that transition and am learning Linux basics.
However, my workspace so to speak was a mess with old pcs and other internet capable devices and here's a problem I need help with:
There seemed to be, in this big house, some device with the annoying habit of polluting any new device with various files for ms file sharing, and if it was just a matter of network files for printing gone wrong or something a good password change would fix, I'd be good. But somehow I wind up with a microsoft network showing up before I even get started checking a new Linux iso burned to a USB and in no time the firewall I activated is no longer activated and won't let me do so.
I'm not a network technician, I'm just learning really after tinkering with any old pc I could bring to life again, or not. A tech on the ms site suggested some Azure network portal having file sharing permissions, and yes I did encounter azure files while digging around but he was pretty vague about it. When pressed, there was some issues, it seems, of attacks on Netgear routers among others and passwords made available to file-sharing um enthusiasts bent on turning everyone's device into a file sharing server.
If you're confused so am I because I did as he said and removed everything from the area I could find, since disabling all file sharing altogether did not work. I think I'll go scorched earth here after getting a new tp-link wired router and getting rid of the Wifi router for now and completely depriving any old computer of all possible power and/or moving that stuff to the storage shed. Odd I know but hey, the ms tech suggested it. Nothing running windows at all is in the house at the moment.
But I have an old Dell 4050 that was a windows machine and would like to make it exclusively a Linux machine. I tried a live Mint usb on a Dell 4020 laptop but had the same results as described above, it seemed I lost control of my own firewall and soon it seemed to be making preparations to become basically a file server. I just shut it down rather than connect to the internet. It had no hard drive in it, I'd taken it out. Only the bootable Mint usb. I didn't make that myself, I bought the usb with Mint already on it. Not sure if I should mention from whom, just happen to see it on amazon.
I do need to download the appropriate distro, probably Mint, check it properly, and have only a windows laptop to do it.
Before I attempt any of that I did want to ask if anyone had had a similar problem, and if someone with more experience with using windows machines exclusively for Linux, and maybe networking experience, can offer advice as the subject kind of has more than one issue with apparently stray windows files and I'm just not certain how to proceed.
I considered posting in a security area so people would not look at me as if I had 3 heads and a tail , but I'll take my chances in General.
I've spent some time studying security, on Windows machines, and it was of course inevitable that I'd move to Linux for my own personal and professional needs. I just began that transition and am learning Linux basics.
However, my workspace so to speak was a mess with old pcs and other internet capable devices and here's a problem I need help with:
There seemed to be, in this big house, some device with the annoying habit of polluting any new device with various files for ms file sharing, and if it was just a matter of network files for printing gone wrong or something a good password change would fix, I'd be good. But somehow I wind up with a microsoft network showing up before I even get started checking a new Linux iso burned to a USB and in no time the firewall I activated is no longer activated and won't let me do so.
I'm not a network technician, I'm just learning really after tinkering with any old pc I could bring to life again, or not. A tech on the ms site suggested some Azure network portal having file sharing permissions, and yes I did encounter azure files while digging around but he was pretty vague about it. When pressed, there was some issues, it seems, of attacks on Netgear routers among others and passwords made available to file-sharing um enthusiasts bent on turning everyone's device into a file sharing server.
If you're confused so am I because I did as he said and removed everything from the area I could find, since disabling all file sharing altogether did not work. I think I'll go scorched earth here after getting a new tp-link wired router and getting rid of the Wifi router for now and completely depriving any old computer of all possible power and/or moving that stuff to the storage shed. Odd I know but hey, the ms tech suggested it. Nothing running windows at all is in the house at the moment.
But I have an old Dell 4050 that was a windows machine and would like to make it exclusively a Linux machine. I tried a live Mint usb on a Dell 4020 laptop but had the same results as described above, it seemed I lost control of my own firewall and soon it seemed to be making preparations to become basically a file server. I just shut it down rather than connect to the internet. It had no hard drive in it, I'd taken it out. Only the bootable Mint usb. I didn't make that myself, I bought the usb with Mint already on it. Not sure if I should mention from whom, just happen to see it on amazon.
I do need to download the appropriate distro, probably Mint, check it properly, and have only a windows laptop to do it.
Before I attempt any of that I did want to ask if anyone had had a similar problem, and if someone with more experience with using windows machines exclusively for Linux, and maybe networking experience, can offer advice as the subject kind of has more than one issue with apparently stray windows files and I'm just not certain how to proceed.